


Ancient Bitch

by karovie



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Drama, Drowning, Gen, Hurt Castiel, Hurt Dean, Hypothermia, M/M, Missing, Nightmares, Torture, Wings, dissapearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-16 09:13:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/860447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karovie/pseuds/karovie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel helps the Winchesters and Bobby in the mystery of the man eating horses. As the event takes a turn for the worse when Dean get's injured, he sends them all away. Castiel ends up missing, and when they finally find him, he's been tortured for a long time, and seems to have been forced into a near human state. His wings forced to materialize. The monster responsible goes into hiding, and they slowly start the task of tracking it down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmares

"Horses eating people? That's a joke, right?" Dean laughs, looking over at his little brother scrolling through official looking reports on his laptop.  
  
"That's what the witnesses say. A dark grey or black horse with sharp teeth," Sam replies and meets his brother's gaze.  
  
"Awesome," Dean pouts. He throws his feet up on the table and pushes his chair back so it balances on two legs, and takes a sip from the bottle in his hand. "Find anything?"  He looks over at Bobby, who's bent over a huge old looking book about mythical creatures.  
  
Bobby looks up from under his cap. "It'd go faster if you picked up a book for once, you idjit!"  
  
"It's Nightmares." Castiel appears beside Dean and looks questiongly down at him when the man crashes to the floor spilling his beer in the process.  
  
Sam burst out in laughter at the sight of his brother falling backwards onto the floor, and Bobby couldn't help letting out a chuckle himself.  
  
"Damnit Cas! Quit doing that!" Dean yells and shoots his hand up, demanding the angel to help him.  
  
"My apologies, Dean,"  Castiel grips Dean's hand an drags him to his feet. "But this is of import."  
  
"Nightmares? You mean those horse like creatures who makes people have nightmares?" Sam asks, focusing on the job again, pulling a hand up to comb it through his hair.  
  
"Don't tell me you know all about that too," Dean mocks with his usual you're-such-a-nerd face, before looking down on the wet stain on his T-shirt. A sigh slips through his lips before he twists the shirt off over his head, turns and walks into one of the bedrooms to fetch a clean one from his duffle.  
  
"Contrary to your popular belief, nightmares feed off of a person's bad dreams, and leaves it with nicer ones or no dreams at all. They are very gentle creatures. Much like unicorns. Although they may look like scary things," Castiel lectures with his normal serious look.  
  
"Gentle, my ass. When was it ever gentle to eat humans?" Dean spits in return as he walks back into the kitchen, putting on the new T-shirt he'd picked out of his duffle. The angel looks at him with a mix of irritation and anger shining from his eyes. A mere look from the angel shuts Dean up in an instant. Sam sees this, and struggles to suppress a laugh.  
  
"Wait, unicorns exist?" Sam suddenly asks, looking amazed and hopeful.  
  
"Yes. They are extremely rare, and the shyest creatures of them all. If one kills a unicorn, one will be severely punished," Castiel answers, and a faint smile hunts his face, before going straight again. "The Nightmares are being controlled by something. They never act like this of their own free will. As I said, they're gentle creatures. In return there are very few things that can hurt, or kill them. In fact my sword, the colt and that knife of yours might be the only things that can. I must ask you not to kill them though. We need to find the ones responsible for taking control of them. They are as innocent as the humans being possessed by demons," he finishes, looking Dean intensely in the eyes, as if he was especially talking to him.  Dean looked back slightly irritated at that.  
  
"How do you suggest we keep them away from us if they get too close, without killing them then?" Sam puts in.  
  
"Iron stakes do not do them any harm, but it isn't really comfortable being hit by them, so they tend to back off a bit." Castiel replies.  
  
"So you're gonna help us, right?" Dean states.  
  
"Of course I will," Castiel says, very matter-of-factly, "why wouldn't I?"  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
An hour or so later, they're all packed up and ready to leave for the town. It's about half an hour a drive from the cabin they're staying in. Dean sighs when he opens the backdoors to Bobby's van and tosses his duffle inside. He misses the Impala. She's currently out of action and sits under a blanket at Bobby's.  
  
Bobby gets in the driver's seat, Sam in the passengers seat and Dean and Cas jump into the back. They drive in silence through the ever darkening  night.  
  
Bobby parks the van outside a park. In the center of the park, there's a big round space covered in concrete. The concrete center is surrounded by beautiful green trees, and a big space of green grass. Yellow tape is stretched out around the circle, marking it a crimescene.  
  
"This is where the last attack took place." Sam says as they get out of the car. They each grab an iron stake, and looks in the direction of the concrete circle.  
  
Castiel picks up a small bottle from his pocket and shows it to the others. "This bottle is filled with a substance that reeks of nightmares. It's very effective as bait against these creatures."  
  
"How do you even bottle up a nightmare?" Dean looks dumbfounded at Castiel, and puts up a hand when  the angel opens his mouth to explain. "Don't. let's just get this over with."  
  
They walk into the concrete circle, looking around to make sure no one else is around. They then line up in to a circle, back to back, while Castiel pops the cap off the bottle and pours the liquid on the ground in front of him.  
  
  
As if they've blown a whistle, the nightmares appear out of nowhere. There are five of them, all the size of regular trotter horses, but quite a lot thinner. Their skin has a waxy, reddish grey color and their veins and tendons bulge out from under their skin. Their manes and tails are black and messy, their huge eyes a dark shade of red and their white sharp teeth shine in the moonlight.  
  
One of them seems to be bolder than the rest and gets closer. Unfortunately, Dean is the unlucky one who is closest to that particular nightmare. Castiel, on the other hand, has two Nightmares right in front of him.  
  
The Nightmares start closing in on them. Sam, Cas and Bobby jump at them and starts hitting with the iron stakes. They just have to keep them off long enough for Castiel to find the connection to the one controlling them. How much time that would take, they didn't know.  
  
Dean, being worried about his brother as always, takes his eyes off of the Nightmare in front of him to look over at Sam for merely half a second, which was a huge mistake. When his eyes focus on the nightmare again, it rears and one of its hoofs shoot into his chest. He can hear the cracking of his ribs as he doubles over, unable to breathe or make any sounds. The nightmare seems to be proud of its work for a second, before it lifts it's foot again and slams it into Dean's scalp. He passes out immediately and lays defenceless on the ground in front of the nightmare.  
  
The others, having their hands full with their own nightmares, didn't hear a single thing. Sam hits the Nightmare real hard and takes a fast look at his brother to ensure he's ok. He panics when he sees Dean on the ground with the nightmare open mouthed over him. "DEAN!"  
  
The terror in Sam’s voice draws Castiel’s attention. He is by Dean's side in an instant, thrusting his angel sword into the chest of the nightmare. It makes a choking noise and goes up in black flames. The other Nightmares freeze, their eyes now glowing with red, as anger thickens the air.  
  
Bobby and Sam back away from them, closer to Dean and Castiel. The angel bends down, folding his arms under Dean's arms and over his chest and lifting him up, handing him over to Sam. "I'll keep them busy while you get the hell out of here. I'll meet you back in the cabin," he orders, putting two fingers on Sam's and Dean's forehead and sending them into the back of the van. "You drive them fast back to the cabin!" he said to Bobby as he sends him into the driver's seat of the van. Bobby, knowing how dangerous this situation suddenly has become, speeds off as fast has the van can go.  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
Castiel ignores the tiring feeling creeping into him after healing Dean and then sending the three of them into the van. It has sucked out much of his powers, but he cannot afford to give in to the exhaustion. Deciding he has no other choice than to start killing more of the nightmares, he turns around to see there are several more of them now.  
  
"This isn't going as well as I'd hoped..." He mumbles to himself, gripping his blade tight and rushing into them, slicing and thrusting his way through. He kills quite a few of them.  
  
As he thrusts about him, he receives quite some of hits himself. Hooves hits him in his chest, his feet, his arms, teeth rip at him from all around. Soon, his blade gets knocked out of his hand and pierces into the concrete beneath him. He's forced to the ground. Castiel knows he won't be able to get the sword back, but he still reaches for it. As his fingers barley touch it, he whispers a few words in Enochian. Markings shining light blue surrounds the blade and fades. He does his best to get up, but it's hopeless. The nightmares are all around him, digging their teeth into his flesh whenever they get the chance.  
  
Suddenly they stop and Cas can hear a woman talking. At first, he can't hear her properly, but soon he realizes with horror that she's talking in an ancient tongue. "This is bad..." he murmurs and slowly fades into darkness.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
Bobby pulls up in front of the cabin and runs around back to help Sam lift his brother out of the van and into one of the bedrooms. While Sam puts Dean on the bed, Bobby searches for his medical kit and with trained fingers, he cleans the wound in Dean's head and starts stitching it.  
  
After finishing up the stitches, he cleans the blood off of Dean's face and proceeds to lift his T-shirt, checking his chest. Sam winces at the huge and dangerously dark bruise on his brother's chest.  
  
Bobby gently puts his fingers on the bruise to see if anything is broken, but Dean’s chest feels hard under his touch. "The angel must've healed his insides before handing him over. Both his skull and his ribcage should've been shattered to pieces by the look of him. Speaking of Cas, where is he?" Bobby looks at Sam.  
  
"Something must have gone wrong..." Sam says, looking worriedly around.  
  
"Well nothing we can do 'bout that now. Need to watch over this idjit. Go get some rest. I'll take the first watch. Wake you if anything happens." Bobby orders. "He'll be fine," he adds as he sees Sam looking at his brother, "Cas did a good job."  
  
Sam reluctantly goes into the other room to lay down on the bed, exhaustion taking over and rocking him to sleep.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
After a few hours of rest, Sam gets up and switches places with Bobby. "Cas hasn’t shown up yet?" Sam asks as Bobby walks past him.  
  
"No," he mutteres back. They both turn at the sound of Dean sitting up in the bed. He seems disoriented at first and then he moans at the pain in his chest.  
  
"You ok?" Sam asks.  
  
"Feels like I was ran over by a train," Dean answers groggily. "What happened?"  
  
"I take it you remember being trampled by the nightmare. Cas got to you just in time to kill it before it took a bite of you. He healed your broken bones and sent us to the van, telling us to meet him back here..." Sam trails off.  
  
"Cas killed it? Wasn't he the one wanting not to kill them? Where is the son-of-a-bitch anyway?" Dean asks. Sam looks away, and Dean notices. "Sam. Where is Castiel?" he asks more urgently, staring demandingly at his brother.  
  
Sam sighs. "I don't know. He never met us back here. I'm afraid something's happened to him."  
  
"And we're still here?! We have to go look for the bastard! We never leave anyone behind, remember?!" Dean yells.  
  
"Then get your lazy ass out of that bed!" Bobby orders Dean grumpily from the doorway.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
The sun rises at the horizon by the time they pull into the parking lot by the park. Dean hurries out of the van and onto the concrete circle, Bobby and Sam not far behind. He stops for a moment, taking in the sight in front of him.  
  
Closest to him lays the discarded trench coat, ripped to pieces. It’s covered in burn marks and blood. Dean bends down, gathering the pieces and folding them together as he stands up again. He looks at the pieces in his hands, trying to comprehend what this could mean. Then he sees the angel blade. Sam and Bobby have reached him by now, worried looks on their faces as they see the cloth in his arms. They follow his gaze.  
  
The blade is standing in the concrete, much like the sword in the stone. They can see faint markings around it.  
  
Dean goes over to the blade and bends down to grip the shaft. The markings shine light blue and disappear as he pulls the blade from the concrete. He looks at it sadly. "He must've put a spell on it to prevent his enemies from getting it. That means he's still alive," Bobby tries, attempting to see the positive in the situation.  
  
"That's what worries me... That means we're dealing with something strong enough to capture an angel alive instead of killing him. Who knows what hell they're putting him through. Believe me, sometimes dying might be better," Dean answers grimly and looks into Bobby's eyes.  
  
All Bobby sees is sadness. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want him to die. I'm just fucking freaked out at what they might be doing to him," Dean finishes. He walks back to the van, angel blade and shredded coat in his arms, and climbs into the back of the van. Sam and Bobby share a glance, before following Dean.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
"We need to keep all eyes open for strange stuff that might be connected to Cas. He's our first priority right now," Dean says as they pull in on the road to the cabin.  
  
Dean climbs out of the van as soon as it stops. He walks through the front door and starts by laying out the pieces of the coat on the table to get a good look at them. He's already inspecting them closely when Sam and Bobby walk in. "Found anything?" Sam asks.  
  
"As a matter of fact I think I have." Dean answers, picking up a piece and showing it to Sam. "Doesn't that look a lot like a print of a high heeled shoe to you?" he asks his brother.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
A week later, they still haven't found any traces of Castiel. Dean hasn’t been sleeping much these days, looking for anything that could lead to Cas. Bobby, having had enough of Dean skipping sleep, orders him to bed. "If you don't sleep, you'll end up killing Feathers instead of saving him!" he threatens.  
  
With those words in mind, Dean sighs and goes into the bedroom he had his duffle in, to get some sleep. Sam takes over the computer to do the research his own way.  
  
He soon finds some strange things. Rain suddenly coming down like a waterfall and then disappearing as suddenly as it had started. Bushes spontaneously combusting in pouring rain. Trees falling over for no reason. Windows shattering without a warning. Earthquakes. Concrete and asphalt cracking. And, last but not least, people hearing screams and high pitched noises out of nowhere.  
  
He starts mapping out all the strange stuff that has happened. The online newspapers haven't really cared much for these small things, even if they didn't have much else to write about. As sleep deprived as Dean has been, Sam thinks it’s no wonder he didn't notice these things. But to be honest, even if they'd found this earlier, they wouldn't have been able to find Cas by it. These things have happened randomly throughout the week, and at random places. There seems to be no pattern to it.  
  
He's been waiting for something new to happen for a few hours, hoping something would tell them where Cas could be. He’s refreshing the local newspage when suddenly, he sees something interesting. "Vandalism in local cemetery".  
  
He clicks the title to read more. "Police suspects teenagers to have destroyed gravestones and statues in an old local graveyard... blah, blah, blah... The statues was several hundred years old... The police can't explain how the teens managed to vandalize the cemetery without being spotted in the middle of the day,” he reads out to Bobby. "I don't really think that was teenagers."  
  
Bobby looks at him. "When did this happen?" he asks.  
  
"About 30 minutes ago, according to the news," Sam replies. "Should we go check it out? It might have something to do with Cas."  
  
"We don't really have anything better to go on. Let's wake your brother," Bobby says and starts preparing for the drive.  
  
"Dean, I think I found something." Sam says as he shakes his brother awake.  
  
"What?" Dean asks half asleep, blinking confused at his brother. Sam tells him about everything he'd managed to find and Dean almost jumps out of bed, grabs the Angel's sword and makes for the door.  
  
"Uhhh... Dean?" Sam can't help but smiling, slightly amused.  
  
"What?!" Dean turns around, annoyed.  
  
"Don't you think pants would be a good idea?" Sam says and tosses his brother's pants over.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
"No fucking way a bunch of teenagers walk into a cemetery in broad daylight to destroy stuff. Especially not a cemetery with huge ass fences like these," Dean says when they stand outside the gates. They enter and start looking for the broken stones.  
  
The first one they come across has been split into three equally big pieces. The second seems to have exploded. They walk further into the graveyard and sees a statue of an angel split in half.  
  
Dean stops and stares at the statue for a minute. It's covering it's eyes with it's hands, bending over in a sad, grieving position, with it’s wings, amazingly detailed, reaching for the sky. After a moment, he tears his gaze from the statue and walks on.  
  
Further in, they approach another angel statue, this one looking at the sky. It holds it’s hands together at the chest, cupping them, like it wants to collect the raindrops falling from the sky, wings folded gently to it's back. It doesn't rain much, but it has already collected a small puddle in it's cupped hands.  
  
Suddenly the rain stops and the earth starts shaking. All three look at each other. "It's happening again," Sam says a little worried. Then they hear it. The high pitched noise. It got so loud that they had to cover their ears.  
  
Then it's gone. Bobby and Sam looks questioningly at Dean. "It's him," he says gravely, "what the hell's happening to him?!" he shouts and curls his fingers to tight fists. "We need to find him fast!"  
  
Dean is about to walk back to the gates when Bobby stops him. "What?!" he snaps, turning around and looking at him. Bobby's staring at something, a baffled expression on his face, and Dean follows his gaze to the angel statue. His eyes widen.  
  
Something, looking dangerously like blood, runs slowly down it's cheeks from it's eyes and it's mouth. Dean walks closer and looks into it's cupped hands. Blood. "Correction, we need to find him right fucking now!" he snarls and rushes for the gates.  
  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
In the van, Sam pulls out the map where he'd scribbled down everything that had happened. He looks closely at it. He hits himself in the head and moans. "What?" Dean demands.  
  
"I can't believe I didn't think of this before!" Sam starts.  
  
"Care to share with the class?" Dean says impatiently.  
  
"Outside of town there is this huge area of land, and in the middle of it, is this huge construction area. This map shows the plans for it. It's supposed to be this big shopping centre. It's at a halt because of economy reasons, and as long as you keep people away, it's the perfect place to hide an Angel. It's definitely worth checking out," Sam explains.  
  
As they speed towards the area, they can see burnt trees and trees fallen over. Around the building itself, there are no trees or bushes left. "This has to be it," Sam says.  
  
"And it's been right in front of our eyes this whole time..." Dean breathes, blaming himself.  
  
"Boys... We don't have a clue of what's inside..." Bobby starts but Dean interrupts him.  
  
"We're going in, Bobby. We're not leaving him again," he says harshly. "We have Ruby's knife and Cas' sword. We'll bring the guns and the iron stakes too. And we're going in now." Dean double-checks for his knife in his boot and the gun tucked in the back of his pants before tucking Castiel's sword up the sleeve of his jacket. He'd seen Castiel slide it out from his own sleeve several times before. "Let's go!" He hisses and makes for the building.  
  
"This is definitely a trap," Sam says as they walk through the unprotected entrance.  
  
"Or the thing doesn't believe anyone's stupid enough to walk into a torture chamber strong enough to hold an Angel captive." Bobby points out.  
  
As they walk further in, they can hear whipping sounds. The further they get, the louder they sound. Soon, they also hear a stomach-wrenching cry of pain. "That's a good boy! Now why don't you give me one of those heartbreaking screams of yours? Or maybe the one that can destroy ears?" a woman's voice says pleasantly.  
  
They sneak around the next corner and find themselves in the perfect hiding place, while still being able to see what goes on. It takes a while for them to actually take in what they see, though.  
  
In the ceiling of this very large room, there is a circle with lots of symbols and sigils. It's unlike anything they've seen before. And from the middle of it, hangs a leather rope with symbols carved into it all the way down to where it's bound several times around the bloody hands of Castiel. He's hanging by his hands, his feet tied to the floor with the same type of leather. On the floor, there is an even bigger version of the circle in the ceiling. The worst of it, of course, is Castiel himself. He hangs with his back towards them, but they can clearly see his head hanging lazily to his bare chest. His shirt hanging in shreds, his back full of bruises, cuts and whip marks. His pants full of holes, and splattered with blood.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Bobby and Sam are the first to snap out of it, dragging Dean down behind a cart loaded with bags of cement. "We have to wait and look out for a good opportunity to strike," Bobby whispers.  
  
Dean fixes his gaze upon the woman with reddish brown skin, black hair and piercing yellow eyes. She wears a black dress to match with her black high heels and is carving something, sigils he thinks, into a whip with her nails - or claws. He struggles not to look at Castiel, hearing his small whimpering sounds of pain.  
  
"Oh! Now I know!" the woman suddenly says as cheerful as a girl getting to shop with someone else's money. She starts chanting in some language sounding very ancient.  
  
At first, nothing happens as the woman chants on and on. Moments later, Castiel tightens his muscles and his head shoots up. The terrible scream coming from him is unbearable, and Sam has to struggle to keep Dean in place. They watches horrified as the angel screams, unable to see what would cause such immense pain. Soon the scream goes from human, to a inhuman high pitched noise, making them cover their ears as it pierces them painfully.  
  
Their eyes widens in horror when they see light shining through his back. The light soon starts shaping into something, stretching out on either side of his body, coming from his shoulder blades. It seems to go at least 9 feet to either side. The light brightens for a moment, before it goes darker, and Dean swears he can see feathers forming in there.  
  
And he's right. Dark feathers starts materializing from the dimming light. Bobby, Sam and Dean sits behind the cart, gaping at the sight in front of them. Huge almost black wings are stretching out across the room. Finally the high pitched noise turns to a weakening scream, and then he turns silent. His muscles relaxes and his head sinks down to the same position from earlier.  
  
Dean think he's too quiet now. He urges fore ward only to be held back by his brother. The wings starts sinking slowly to the floor, as the woman finishes her chanting. A moment passes, before the wings suddenly shoots up, and coveres Castiel's body. The woman grins. "So you think you can escape the pain by covering yourself with the wings eh?" she says venomously. She picks up her whip again, hurriedly carves another symbol in it, and begins the whipping.  
  
The wings twitches each time she hits them. Sending feathers flying to the floor, and pretty soon blood was being whipped about. "Giving up already?" she triumphs as his wings slowly fall to the floor again. She puts her whip down on a table she keeps not far from the angel, and picks up a knife.  
  
She hums a tune as she walks around the angel, watching him closely, as if she is planning what to do next. She has the knife in her hand, and when she'd walked around him several times, she stops in front of him. She looks him up and down, lifts her knife and thrusts it into his thigh. She smiles at his cry of pain as she twists it, before taking it out again.  
  
She lits up then, and leave her knife on the table, and walks over to a ladder standing a little further away, grabs it, and settles it beside Castiel. She reaches for something they can't see at first, but they squint as she pulls up a bone saw, and climbs the ladder.  
  
"No fucking way..." Dean begins as the woman grabs one of Castiel's wings and positions her saw on top of it. "I'm not fucking watching her rip his wings off!" He shouts then, and jumps up from their hiding space just as she thrusts the saw through skin and muscle in the wing, making Castiel cry out in pain all over again.  
  
Dean aims his gun at her and shoots, before coming closer. She avoids the bullet, lifts the saw out of the wing, blood dripping from it, and grins wide. "I was wondering when you'd come out from there," she says satisfied. She climbs down from the ladder and pushes it over, making it crash onto the floor. She walks over to her table again, and puts down her saw. "You can't imagine how many times and ways your precious little thing here have watched all three of you die," She smiles.  "His screams are so delicious!" she adds, licking her lips.  
  
Dean burns with rage as he closes in slowly, careful not to step on the wings. Bobby and Sam follows wearily a few feet behind him. The woman snaps her fingers then, and the nightmares appears out of nowhere. Dean reaches Cas, when he hears the first dull thuds coming from behind him as Sam and Bobby lashes out on the nightmares.  
  
He walks in front of the angel, careful not to look up into his face. He touches the stab wound in his thigh lightly, getting blood on his fingers. His jaw clenches, muscles tightens as he turns toward the woman. "You're gonna die for this, bitch!" He growls at her.  
  
She eyes him, amused, but he thought he could see a small bit of uncertainty in her eyes as she then spoke "What are you going to do, slap me in the face with that hand of yours full of your Angel's blood?" she smirks.  
  
Dean looks closely at her, as he slides Castiel's blade out from his sleeve. He's now pretty sure she widens her eyes a small bit at the sight of it. As he smears the blood on his hand over to the blade, she narrows her eyes in disbelief. "How did you know?!" she wheezes. Her eyes turning more intense, her skin more red than brown now, a tail emerging and bat like wings appearing from her back.  
  
Dean allows himself a small devilish smile at her reaction, lifts the blade up a bit, and throws himself at her. "I'll deal with you bugs later!" she then screams and disappears very fast along with the nightmares.  
  
"Get your ugly ass back here you fucking bitch!" Dean screams after her, turning frantically to look for her. "I'm going to pierce your lungs and watch you burn!" He shouts when he can't see her anywhere and hurriedly turns to look back at Castiel, now looking to his face.  
  
Castiel's eyes are halfway open, and shines light blue. He's red and bruised around his eyes. His face is smeared with tears, and blood is coming from his slightly open mouth. "We need to get him down!" Dean orders panicky.  
  
The circles are carved into the cement Dean realizes. He looks around, and sees a construction lift placed by some other equipment by the wall beside the cart they'd hid behind. Sam follows his gaze and immediately jogs to it as Dean walks over. They manage to move it far enough into the room so that they'll be able to reach the circle when going up.  
  
Sam takes the job and when he's ready with a chisel at the circle in the ceiling, Bobby at the floor, they both starts chiselling at the same time, breaking the circle. Nothing happens. Sam comes down as his brother is cutting the leather tied around Castiel's feet. "Mind getting up on the ladder  to cut his hands free?" He asks Sam weakly.  
  
Dean stands there, looking up as Sam starts cutting, ready to catch Castiel as he falls. The moment he's cut free, the light from his eyes disappears, and he falls down into Deans arms. Dean staggers at the impact, but keeps to his feet. "You guys mind grabbing his blade, and fold his wings in a little, so we can get him out of here?" He asks, and waits for them to do so.  
  
Dean walks backwards out from the building, Bobby and Sam holding a wing and leg each, to prevent Castiel from being dragged in the ground. They ease his legs down slowly, and opens the backdoor to the van, so that Dean can get Cas in the back. He sits down and holds Castiel's head in his lap, making sure his airways are free. He also holds fingers to his throat, feeling for his pulse, sighs in relief when he finds it. Meanwhile, Bobby and Sam places his feet and wings down carefully, closes the door, hurries to the front, and then they're on their way back to the cabin.  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
They carry the angel into the bedroom closest to the front door. Lay him carefully on his stomach in the middle of the king sized bed. they remove the ruined pants, checking him for wounds. Bobby and Dean cleans the wounds carefully, sewing the ones needing to be sown. Sam fetching stuff as they ask for it. When they finishes working on his back, back of his feet and wings, they carefully turn him around and starts all over again on his chest and front of his legs.  
  
His worst visible wounds was the cut wing, the stab wound in his thigh and several other nasty looking injuries. Sam fetches blankets and they cover him up good. They stand there for a minute watching the unconscious angel, before they walk into the kitchen to sit down by the table.  
  
The shock and exhaustion catches up to them, Dean seeming to be hit harder by it. His hands are shaking, in fact his whole body seems shaky, and his breath stutters. "How'd ya manage to scare that creature away?" Bobby then asks.  
  
"Honestly.. I don't really know. I'd gotten Cas' blood on my fingers, and she chatted on about it, so I ended up smearing it over the blade... Then she kind of freaked out before she ran off..." Dean answers looking down on his hands.  
  
"Perhaps that's how to kill her?" Sam suggests then. He looks worryingly at his brother, trying not to think about the train of thoughts that probably are running through his head at the moment.  
  
"We'll ask Cas when he wakes up." Dean states then, and stands up to go.  
  
"Where're you going, boy?" Bobby asks, a warning in his voice.  
  
"To keep an eye on Cas, in case something happens." He says and turns to look at Bobby like he should have known already.  
  
"Oh no you ain't! As soon as you get back in there, you won't leave until he's awake!" Bobby hisses at him. "You're going straight to bed. You need hours of sleep first if you're going to sit in there." He orders.  
  
"But-" Dean tries but Bobby shoots him a stern look.  
  
"Bed. Now." He finishes and waves his arm at Dean. "I swear. It's like dealing with a giant 5 year old!" Bobby mutters to himself as Dean stomps into the bedroom beside the one Castiel was in.  
  
"Let me take the first watch," Sam says as Bobby turns back around. "You know, since you haven't slept in a while." He smiles as he walks over to the fridge to fetch himself a beer.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
Dean wakes to the sounds of cooking. He takes a moment to realize where he is, and lifts his hand to rub his face. He's quietly rewatching the horrible memories from the day before. He's wishing it was all a nightmare and that he has finally awaken from it, and Cas would be his same old self. At this moment he doesn't even know if the angel would even wake up. None of them really knew what that ancient bitch had done to him other than what they'd seen. Hell, he doesn't even know if it is still Castiel. And holy shit! The wings! He stares at the ceiling now, remembering the mighty black feathered wings. They where overwhelmingly enchanting.  
  
He rubs his face again, and gets out of the bed. He decides to grab something to eat before he trades place with Sam in Castiel's room. He scratches his head while walking into the kitchen and nods at Bobby who looks at him as he enters. "Eggs?" Bobby offers him and places a plate on the table before he manages to answer.  
"Thanks," Dean smiles in appreciation and settles himself into the chair. Bobby then turns again with another frying pan and pulls slices of bacon out of it, and onto Dean's plate. He gives Dean a knowing smile when his eyes lights up at the sight. He eats happily.  
  
Dean stops in the doorway to the room Castiel stays, and watches his brother for a moment. Sam has fallen asleep in a comfy chair similar to one he just remembers to be in his own room. He looks so peaceful in his sleep, and Dean can't help but smile. His eyes then slides over to the still unconscious angel on the bed, plastered in bandages and band aids, wings halfway on the bed and halfway off. His smile faints and is replaced by a sad frown. He shakes his brother awake and tells him to go eat, while he takes his place in the chair, not taking his eyes off the angel.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
He has been sitting there for hours, dozing off now and then. He's struggling to keep his eyes open, when he's startled by a loud gasp. He turns to look to the doorway, but when he sees no one there, he slowly turns to look at Castiel, his heart pounding wild in his chest. There it is again. He sees how the angel's chest shoots up at the gasping sound. "Cas?" he asks cautiously and stands up. The angel suddenly opens his eyes wide, sitting up fast. He sways a little bit, and frowns at the pain. He's breathing heavily, Dean notes, and he seems very confused. He lifts his hands and looks shocked at them, while clenching and unclenching them.  
  
"Cas?" Dean tries again. The angel startles and stares at him in shock, his wings reacting together with him. He looks terrified to his side, breathing faster. He moves his wings, breathing faster and faster as he realizes his wings have materialized.  
  
Suddenly his wings are all over the room. Feathers flying all around them as he flaps them frantically, trying to take flight, only to fall off the bed, his wings too big for the room. Dean makes himself as small as possible to the floor, not wanting to be knocked out by a huge wing. Castiel crashes into the ceiling, falls onto the bed again, smashes the window as he tries to take flight again and crashes once more into the ceiling, before he falls down on the other side of the bed.  One of his wings up against the wall, the other out over the bed. He squeezes himself as far into the corner as he manages, breathing too fast, staring at Dean who now stands up. He looks scared out of his mind. There is nothing but terrified shock in his eyes. Dean compares Cas to a hurt little freaked out bird, so scared it's about to die of shock.  
  
Bobby and Sam are soon in the doorway, staring wordlessly at the room, before they settle their eyes on Castiel. The room is full of feathers, the window is blown out, everything easily breakable in the room is smashed. And then there's Castiel. He's pressed into the corner by the bed, breathing too fast, staring terrified at them.  
  
Dean then realizes Castiel is having a severe panic attack. His breathing is way too fast. "He's hyperventilating!" he bursts out, and hurries over to Castiel's side, ignoring the weak panicked attempt at getting away from him. "Find a paper bag or something!" he urges as he sits down, putting a reassuring hand onto Castiel's back. "husshh... it's ok, you're safe. Relax, buddy..." Dean starts soothing.  
  
Soon Sam hands him a paper bag. Dean takes it and opens it. "Cas, I'm going to put this bag onto your mouth. You have to breathe into it. It will help you calm down, ok?" he explains before he cover the angel's mouth and nose with it. "Calm down... Breathe slowly. It's ok. We're here. We're watching over you. We'll protect you. We'll keep you safe." Dean mutters calmly to the angel. He feels Castiel's breath steadying, the guy  finally calming down. "That's right. Nice and slow. I'll remove the bag now, remain calm, ok?"  he says softly, as he removes the bag slowly.  
  
Castiel takes a deep breath, his eyes half closed and unfocused. "You should probably get 'im into your room now that the window's smashed," Bobby tells him as he looks around the room.  "Me 'n Sam will fix things up 'ere." He finishes and walks off.  
  
Sam looks at Dean as if he want to offer to help him. "I'll manage." Dean tells his brother. Sam hesitates, but follows Bobby then.  
  
Dean takes good hold of Castiel, careful not to press too hard on any of his worst wounds, and drags him up from the floor. The angel trembles and his feet give out on him, making him almost fall down again. Dean grips on tighter and starts halfway dragging him out of the room. When they're in the other room, Castiel's head drops, and his muscles relaxes a little too much. "Don't pass out on me just yet!" Dean says, shaking him just a little bit. He then manages to settle the angel on the bed, with minimum help from Castiel himself.  
  
Dean stands back, watching the angel. A bit of sweat forms at his forehead, and he dries it off with the back of his hand. He himself feels a little shaky, and decides it's a good idea to settle in the comfy chair by the door. Soon, he too, is sleeping.


	2. Chicken soup

"Dean" Sam waits for a reaction, but there is none. He holds up the cold beer he'd brought for Dean and grins to himself as he places it onto his brother's bare neck. Dean jumps up off the chair and a girly sound escapes his throat before turning to glare at Sam. "Thought you'd want this." He chuckles before handing the beer over. His brother grabs it and immediately opens it. "So... How's Cas doing?"  He looks from Dean over to Castiel, and back again.  
  
"There's no reaction... no recognition... I don't even know if he realises he's not bound anymore." Dean sighs, looking over at the angel before continuing. "He has moments where he's.. kind of awake.. His eyes are open, but he does not move. He does not talk. I manage to make him drink while he's like that, but it's as if he doesn't... as if he's not really here." He sits down into the chair again, sipping from his bottle. "I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever come back" He mutters after a while.  
  
Sam sighs and leans on the doorway. "I'm just glad that thing hasn't found us yet. I have no idea what it is. I couldn't find anything that matched. Me and Bobby drew up every protection sigil we could come up with, but I'm still not sure it'll actually help." He sips from his own beer. "We're going into town to get some more groceries. We'll need that if we're staying here any longer. I guess it's out of the question to move him at the moment." Sam puts in, and looks at his brother.  
  
"We never know when he'll have one of those fits again. You saw what the bedroom looked like. I wouldn't want that to happen in a car." Dean whispers. He runs his hand down his face, and takes a mouthful of beer. "Hey Sam... Do you think Bobby could make soup?" He suddenly asks and looks up at Sam.  
  
"Soup? Dean... are you sick?" Sam stares at him, shocked.  
  
"What? No. I'm thinking about Cas. We need to feed him at some point. I'm really not sure he's much of an angel anymore... and soup is drinkable."  Dean looks strangely at Sam. He frowns and concentrates on his beer again.  
  
Sam's expression softens as he watches his brother's worried face. "I'll ask him." He says softly and pats Dean's shoulder. "You really think he's... not very Angel anymore?"  
  
"Yeah... He.. even before this happened, I noticed he was trying to hide something. I started looking at him while he thought no one looked... He was shaky. Had to lean against things to try hiding it. And now... I mean we don't know what that bitch did, but you saw that light. I'm afraid she drained him. And look at him." He holds his hand out towards the unconscious angel. "He's  _sleeping_. He has been sleeping for days. Angels do not sleep." He sits back in the chair, lowering his hand down to his lap. He drinks the last of his beer, hands it to Sam, rests his head back on the chair and closes his eyes. Sam's eyes wanders to Castiel once more before he leaves the room to join Bobby.  
  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
"Where the fuck am I" Dean whispers to himself as he looks around. Everything is grey. Like cement. Then he sees Castiel kneeling with his hands covering his ears, eyes shut, as he's rocking back and forth. He doesn't have the wings anymore. "Cas!" Dean shouts. No reaction. He looks around one more time, and his eyes widen at the realisation. They're back in the building Castiel was being tortured in. He looks back at Castiel and draws a sharp breath when he sees blood all over.  
  
"Please..." it is weak and begging. Dean realise it comes from Castiel, but it doesn't really sound like him. He starts walking towards him, but stops when he sees something at the corner of his eyes. He turns, and backs off a step at the sight of mangled corpses. He looks more closely. The terror he feel when he recognise his brother and Bobby can't be described in words. He turns away, unable to look at it. His hands are balled up into tight fists, and his whole body is tense.  
  
Then he sees himself mangled in the same way after turning away from Bobby and Sam. He breathes out. Relaxes a little. It's a dream. It's a fucking dream. He closes his eyes for a moment, and when he opens them again, he can see himself, Sam and Bobby multiplied by at least 10, all murdered in a different way. The one thing he notices is the same about all of them, is they have no faces. None of them do.  
  
He starts walking over to Castiel again. Careful not to slip on all the blood. He bends down, putting a hand on Cas' shoulder. "Cas" He breathes. Castiel looks up at him, and his eyes widens in terror. He falls back, moving frantically, trying to get away from him. Dean stares at him, confused.  
  
Suddenly multiple growls could be heard, making both Dean and Cas look around. Dean couldn't make out the exact form of the monsters in front of him. They are dark, with red eyes and sharp claws, other than that, they seems to change shapes regularly.  Castiel covers his ears again and forces his eyes shut as he starts rocking back and forth again. The creatures glides straight past him, aiming for Dean.  
  
Instinct drive Dean into attack mode. Even though he has no weapons he hurls himself at the creatures. To his surprise that is all that's needed.  He stops for a moment and just watches the creatures. They don't really attack. They come at him as if to make him believe they would attack, but they hover just inches in front of him. He reaches out and pokes the one closest to him, and it dissolves into thin air. He raise his eyebrows at that, considering it, and goes on to poke the rest of them.  
  
When they're all gone, he kneels in front of Castiel. He firmly grips Cas' shoulders with both his hands, and shakes him gently. "Cas. Wake up. It just a dream." He says as reassuringly as he manages. Cas snaps his eyes up to look at him, still terrified.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
Dean wakes to a crash. He sits up alert but disoriented in the chair. His eyes glides to the broken mug on the floor beside the bed. He hears the rustling of feathers, and looks up to see the shaking black wings, halfway unfurled. His eyes wanders over to the horrified expression on the Angel's face. He is sitting as far back in the bed as he's able to, with his feet pulled tightly to his body. He looks so vulnerable.  _So_  not like the Castiel Dean know. It hurts to see him like this. Not only the dreadful expressions, but the fact he is covered in bandages as well.  
  
"Cas...?" He tries. The wide blue eyes meet his, and if possible, widens even more. His face looks pale and Dean realises the angel is breathing too fast. "Damn it! Not again!" First he makes for the bed, but then realises he need to find the paper bag from last time, and so he rushes into the kitchen.  
  
Dean drags the drawers out, rushing through them one by one. He slams open the cabinets, but he cannot find the damn paper bag. Even if there's only seconds gone by after rushing into the kitchen, He feels like it's been minutes.  
  
Just as Dean slams open the last cabinet, Sam comes through the front door with his hands full of groceries. One look at his brother's frantic expression, and he puts down the groceries as he asks what's wrong.  
  
"He's hyperventilating again!" Dean throws at his brother. "Paper bag! Plastic bag! Something!" He adds.  
  
"Top of the fridge..." Sam follows Dean as he grabs the bag off the fridge and hurries into the bedroom. Castiel is clutching his chest, eyes pressed shut as he breathes way too fast, bending a bit fore ward, wings shaking. It's Shocking for Sam to see Cas like this. He always thought of him as the stronger one. And now he's just... this. He worries about what is left of the Castiel they know.  
  
Dean jumps onto the bed, sits down by Cas' side, puts one arm behind his back, and presses the bag to his face with the other. He manages to make Cas bend more backwards, opening his airways a bit more. "Shhhhh... Easy there buddy... I've got you. We've got you. You're safe..." He soothes.  
  
Sam watches from the doorway. His brother has that tender over protective big brother look on his face as he tries to calm the Angel down. Bobby joins him in the doorway, watching them a little bit, before he gestures for Sam to follow him  back out. They close the door behind them to make the atmosphere as calm as possible.  
  
Castiel is gradually calming down while Dean talks calmly to him. When he's calm enough, Dean removes the bag. He pulls Castiel into a hug, and he feels the Angel tremble in his arms. He holds him tight, to reassure him he's actually there. After a few moments, Castiel lifts his arms and grips tight at the clothing on Dean's back. "It's ok. You can relax. We're here." Dean whispers and closes his eyes.  
  
Suddenly Dean feels a warmth wrapping around him. He opens his eyes and finds it quite dark. He's confused for a moment before he feels the tickling of feathers over his skin. Castiel has wrapped them both in his wings. They sit in silence like that for a while.  
  
Castiel withdraws his wings and folds them back. His whole body trembles slightly. Soon Dean can feel his shirt turning wet at his chest. His heart breaks slightly at that, but he keeps calm for Castiel's sake. He looks down on Castiel's legs still pulled up, but resting on Dean's own. The grey fabric of Dean's sweatpants covers up the wounds under it. He vaguely remembers pulling them over the limp legs of the angel after making sure all of the bandages  had been changed.  
  
  
  
Soon, he felt Castiel's body relax entirely. He wiggles free, and lay him down, careful not to wake him. He tugs the covers over him and makes sure he's comfortable. For a while he just stands there. Watching the heaving of the angel's chest.  
  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
Sam and Bobby looks up as Dean walks out and closes the door halfway behind him. He seems slightly distant as he joins them at the table in the kitchen. They clearly see the wet stains on his shirt as he sits down into the chair beside Sam.  
  
"He... is sleeping..." Dean begins. He stares down at the table. He tries again. "He cried." It comes out a weak whisper at first. His eyes leaves the table, to stare at the stain on his shirt. "He was crying.." It comes out slightly louder this time. One of his hands slips up to tug at the stain. "He was fucking crying!" Dean looks lost.  
  
Neither Sam nor Bobby knows what to do. Angels aren't supposed to sleep, or cry, or being bedridden for days by simple wounds. They are supposed to heal themselves up pretty fast, be strong creatures. Now they have no idea what they are supposed to call him. Because of his wings, he looks a bit more like the angels in the paintings, but take them away, and he seems way too human.  
  
Not only this, they do not know how to act around Dean. He has taken a liking to the Angel. He gets deeply affected when something happens to Castiel, and they suspect it's more than friendship. More than family.  
  
Dean draws a shaky breath after several minutes of silence. "In his dreams, he was still captured..." He begins and finally looks up. "I don't know if it was some kind of curse or something, but he was trapped in that cement building, having monsters all around him, not touching him, only killing fake versions of us. Multiple versions of us, killed in different ways was scattered all around him and there were blood everywhere." Dean sighs and gratefully takes the beer Bobby hands him.  
  
"I don't know how I got into his dream, but it seemed to do the trick.. the monsters didn't even attack the real me. When I finally got his attention for real, the dream was gone, and he was wide awake." Dean took a big mouthful of his beer.  
  
"I hope he's back for real this time.." Sam put in silently, watching his brother as he bottomed the last of his beer.  Bobby nodded in agreement.  
  
"Well I guess you boys are hungry. I'll make chicken soup for dinner." Bobby says as he stands. He makes for the fridge to retrieve the ingredients.  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
  
"Soup's ready" Bobby says and is about to pick up a bowl to fill it.  
  
"Dean..?" Sam and Dean both stand up, and Bobby turns around fast at the sound of the dark voice. It has been too long since they last heard it, and the sound of it both shocked them and is a relief to hear.  
  
Castiel is leaning against the doorway to the bedroom with a pained expression on his face. His wings are tucked closely to his body, looking impossibly small compared to the actual size of them.  
  
"Cas.. you shouldn't be up with those legs.." Dean says carefully as he closes in on Castiel. Castiel, as stubborn as he is, takes a few steps fore ward. At the third step, his legs give out under him. As he falls, his wings stretches out a bit as if to catch his fall. Dean is there in time, and catches him before he hits the floor.  
  
"See?" Dean smiles a little. He adjusts his grip on the Angel and helps him to the kitchen table. Sam moves over to Bobby's side to give Cas his seat. Castiel is full of bandages, red marks after the whip, and yellowing bruises.  His dark wings are huge, and he's bare-chested. They haven't seen him in anything other than the suit and the trench coat before.  It is a strange sight for them, but they try to keep everything normal.  
  
"You must be hungry." Bobby tries, looking at him. The Angel doesn't answer at first. He adjusts himself in his chair, moving his wings to cover himself up a bit.  
  
"Yes... and cold..." Cas answers then, mildly confused at himself. Dean hurries over to the couch, grabs a blanket and puts it over Castiel. The Angel looks at him and gives him a grateful nod.  
  
"I have an idea." Sam says, and makes for his own bedroom. When he comes out again, he has one of his old long sleeved shirts with him. He grabs a knife from the drawer and turns to Castiel. "Could you stand up a bit, and turn your back to me?" He smiles at Cas.  
  
Castiel, slightly confused, does as he's asked, being careful not to knock anything over with his wings. Sam looks like he's measuring something with his eyes, before he rips two holes in the shirt all the way down, severing the bottom seam. "Here. Put this on." Sam says, handing the shirt over. Castiel stares at it first, but then he does as he's told. When the shirt is on, Sam adjusts it in the back, tying it together again under the wings. "There. Now you at least have something on. It'll probably be a bit chilly in the back, but it's better than nothing." He struggles to hold back a laugh when Castiel turns again. The shirt is way too big for him.  
  
  
  
"Time to eat, boys." Bobby chuckles a little at the sight of Castiel, and hands him a bowl of soup. "Now, you'll want to be careful with that. It's hot, and we don't want you to burn your tongue." Bobby warns him as he hands him a spoon. After giving each of them a bowl of soup, he sits down to eat.  
  
Dean notices that Cas is just staring at the food. "Cas. Take a spoonful of it and blow at it carefully like this." Dean explains and demonstrates. The Angel watches him closely and copies the movement.  
  
"This is very good." Cas compliments Bobby after a few spoonfuls. Bobby just smiles back at him.  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
Even with Sam's shirt, Castiel pulls the blanked tighter around himself. They've moved over to the couch to talk about the last two weeks. Dean offers Castiel a beer, but he politely declines the offer. Shrugging, Dean gives it to Sam and sits down with his own beer. Bobby on the other hand hands Castiel a bottle of water. He smiles at Bobby and accepts the water. "What is this creature exactly?" Bobby asks as he sits down.  
  
"It's a Succubus." Castiel replies and takes two sips of water before looking down into his lap.  
  
"Succubus? Like the hot demon chick that has sex with you, succubus?" Dean blurts out before he could think. Sam just stares at him then. First he looks puzzled that Dean knows about it, then he just gives him the ultimate bitch-face. Dean opens his mouth to say something, but shuts it again fast, not really knowing what to say.  
  
"No... You humans have the strangest stories when it comes to creatures..." Castiel shakes his head. "No. A Succubus is not really a demon. They are older than the Angels. They feed off of screams. The more painful the scream is, the more it strengthens the succubus. The more powerful the creature they feed from, the more strength is in it's screams. Fortunately they need very much to actually stall their hunger. This particular succubus was quite weak..."   Castiel stops again, clearly bothered by the last fact. The others looks at him with sympathy. Dean reaches out and squeezes his shoulder a bit. That makes him meet Dean's gaze, smiling weakly.  
  
"Sorry to ask, but... What happened after we left?" Sam asked. They all watched Castiel as he swallowed a mouthful of water before clearing his voice. He absently rubs his wrist carefully with his free hand as he starts telling what happened.  
  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
 _Two weeks earlier_  
Castiel wakes slowly to a clattering sound. He feels somewhat strange and wants to rub his face. His hands are not moving. He tries harder. The pain he feels in his wrists tells him he's bound. He opens his eyes slowly. He's in mid air in some sort of cement building, and the floor is carved into some kind of circle.  
  
The recognition hits him hard, and in panic he tries to wiggle his hands free. When he finally gives up, he looks down to the floor again. A woman steps into his view, grinning wide.  
"So my pretty little angel is awake?" She licks her lips hungrily. Castiel follows her with his eyes as she walks over to a table set up not too far from him. The table is filled with different kinds of dangerous looking tools.  
  
"Why are you controlling the Nightmares?" Castiel asks and swallows as she picks up a leather whip.  
  
"Oh you know. They are very handy if you just make them. They did the boring work for me by collecting those weak human screams. They're so weak, it's like eating one blueberry a day... but then you came along! Oh how wonderful it's going to be! I can't wait! I can finally have a whole meal a day! Oh my!" She dances something like a victory dance. Castiel just stares at her, trying to come up with something of a plan.  
  
"Oh don't you worry little one. I will make sure to empty you of every little scream and whine your body harbours. It will take time, so I won't kill you as fast as those crappy little bugs they call humans. Now, let us begin!" She smiles wide up at him and starts carving a sigil into the empty leather whip she is holding. "I'll start out with my favourite tool of choice!" She laughs and finishes the carving.  
  
The lash of the whip only manages to make him grunt in shock at the sharp pain it caused. He realises he's bare-chested, his shirt and jacket having been ripped to pieces before he was brought in here.  He glares at her. She on the other hand is smiling to herself, carving another symbol into the whip. Once again lashing it at him. This time it is even worse. It feels as though it goes through his vessel's skin and hits the surface of his grace.  
  
Dancing again at the victory of getting close to the screams she wants, she carves yet another sigil into the whip. It goes on like this for hours, making the pain worse every time.  
  
After many hours of pain, she stops for a moment, a chant making it's way through her lips. His grace reacts to this, by tearing through the skin, healing the body, before it is once again locked into the body. He's not completely healed. He's panting hard when the woman laughs at him.  
  
"We can't have your body falling apart you know!" she grins at him. Suddenly her face turns more serious. "Oooohh.... Your grace there is very pretty little one. So bright and shiny. So innocent..." She shut her mouth a moment. "I wonder if we might find something useful in that head of yours!" she exclaimed loudly.  
  
She fetches a ladder from behind him in the room, puts it up in front of him and climbs it. She settles eye to eye, laughing at his attempt to get free. While looking him intensely into his eyes, she brings her hand up, and cuts a deep long gash over his chest, making him whimper in pain. She takes his blood onto her fingers and draws a symbol onto his forehead. She chants a small verse before she cuts her own hand and places it on top of the symbol. Castiel's eyes widens in fear.  
  
She watches the blood symbol disappear, before she climbs higher and carves the same symbol into the leather bound around his wrists. The leather already has many sigils and symbols on it, making it hard for her to find space for the new one, but she finds it. She climbs down and off the ladder and carves the same one into the leather around his ankles. She removes the ladder and looks back up at him. His eyes are now filled with light, shining bright white at first, before turning into a shade of light blue.  
  
She grins when his body tenses up, before he seems to try getting free. He starts screaming pretty soon. First there's just regular screaming, but then it turns into long heartfelt "NO!"s and a row of names, until finally there are only three names that are shouted several times over and over. She smears the mix of his and her blood onto her forehead, and closes her eyes to see what he sees.  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
 _Castiel's nightmares_  
There is blood everywhere. Feathers and ripped clothing scattered all around. There are many dead Angels ripped to pieces. Three men are battling off monsters in the middle of the ocean of bodies. Sam, Dean and Bobby.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM THEM! THEY MURDERED ALL THE ANGELS! YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR THEM! DEAN! LISTEN TO ME!!!" Castiel is screaming his lungs out. He's chained to the ground not far from them, unable to help.  
  
He watches in horror as the shadowy monsters tackles Bobby, his blood spurting all over. Sam and Dean screams at them, and then Sam is slaughtered right before Dean's eyes. Dean freezes, and that is the big mistake that kills him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Castiel cries out.  
  
The monsters ignores him. Never once glances at him. "I WILL RIP EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU APART! ATOM BY ATOM! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" They still ignore him. Soon they vanishes, and he's left alone amongst the bodies of everyone he ever knew.  
  
Suddenly Castiel is free from the chains, and the room is clean. He's confused at first, but then he sees three of the shadow monsters from earlier, and charges at them at once, his angel blade in hand.  
  
He slays the first two very fast before the last one have time to react. He jumps onto the last one, flinging them both to the ground, and stabs it. He glares at the writhing creature under his sword.  
  
"Why..." The shadow whispers. Castiel didn't expect that. He stares confusedly at the creature. He stands in horror as it suddenly turns into Dean. Blood is spreading fast from his body. His gaze turns glassy, and all his muscles relaxes.  
  
Castiel stares back at the other two, now turning out to be Bobby and Sam. "No... no, no, no!" he mumbles, looking back down to Dean. He takes several steps backwards, falling to the ground. "This is not happening... This isn't real!" He cries.  
  
Someone tugs at his coat. He looks down to see the bloodied face of Sam looking up at him. "Is Dean ok? Tell me he's ok! You promised to protect him!" He breathes at Castiel. When Castiel does not answer, Sam's expression turns from worry to anger. "You killed him! You bastard! You killed my brother!" he screams at the Angel. The action proves to be too much for the wounded body, and Sam drifts off. Castiel shuts his eyes.  
  
When he opens them again, he's back in the hanging position in the cement building. He sees Bobby and Sam fighting the shadow monsters, this time a lot fewer, and in the form of the Nightmares. Dean is working on cutting the leather on Castiel's feet. "Dean! Watch out!" Castiel shouts when he see one of the shadows closing in on him. Dean is too slow, and screams in pain as his blood spurts everywhere. The shadow tramples him into the floor. Making him nothing but a  pool of blood and gore. Sam is next. Getting his arm ripped off by the creature, before it pierces through his chest, leaving a huge hole. The misery shines from Bobby when he sees the two boys slaughtered. The fight draining from his old body.  
  
Castiel looks away, not managing to watch the last of them get killed. He is shocked to find that he cannot escape the sight. Bobby is suddenly within his sight again. The creature chops the poor man's head off.  
  
Once again the scene changes. The three of them die horribly while Castiel can do nothing but watch. It keeps happening over and over again, terrible and bloody each time.  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
 _Back in the Succubus' torture chamber_  
The woman decides she's seen enough. She opens her eyes and wipes away the blood from her forehead. It pleases her that he suffers so much just by the trance he's in. It makes it much easier for her to drain his screams.  
  
She tests him by thrusting a knife into his thigh. The scream he lets loose satisfies her, and she keeps on working.  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
She's been torturing him for days before she finally get a new idea. She know he feels everything she does to him, even if he's still in the trance. And he will remember it all. She is absolutely certain of it. If she doesn't kill him, that is.  She laughs to herself. Of course he's going to die. Eventually. Can't have an Angel of all things running around with knowledge of her existence.  
  
Her idea is based on a curse she remembers her kind use on some Angels back in the day where she wasn't the only one left. It made them practically human. Easy targets. The process hurt them terribly. But they had to be careful. The curse could be broken, and if it did, the Angel would get it's powers back, and would heal somewhat fast.  
  
The Angels were dangerous. God had realised the Succubus would hunt his Angels because of their powerful screams. Therefore he had made their blood toxic when mixed with the Angel blade. The blood itself didn't do much harm. But when it was smeared on the blade, it was the most dangerous weapon to some creatures, especially the Succubus. Her kind had been slaughtered with it. She was the only one left.  
  
Her anger takes over her, and she screams at the Angel hanging sloppily from the leather ropes. Her whip is lashed at him several times in anger. She then calms herself. Remembering the curse again, she starts the ancient chant.  
  
The screams escaping the mouth of Castiel are terrible. The woman laughs when she finishes the chant. Dancing around him in victory at the painful sounds coming from the Angel.  
  
When his screams stop, she resumes her regular torture. Happily bouncing around, whipping and slashing at him.  
  
"Ooooohhh... Your friends are here." She grins later that day, and keeps on with her torturing like she didn't notice.  
  
  
  
  
  
~oOo~  
  
  
  
 _Back in the safety of the cabin_  
"You probably know the rest of it better than me..." Castiel finishes. His breath is shaky after having to go through the terrible week once again. Bobby hands him a new bottle of water. He'd emptied the first while he was talking about what happened, and he happily accepts the new one. He opens it and takes a good mouthful of it. Bobby sits down again, and he, Sam and Dean looks at Castiel, sympathy in their gazes.  
  
"So, except for the wings... You're basically human?" Dean asks silently. He'd neglected his beer early when Castiel started talking. He simply couldn't bring himself to drink anything while he listened to him talking about how he was tortured. Soon he feels anger seeping into him.  
  
"Yes.. I have my wings visible now, and I am still stronger than humans, but other than that I am mostly human..." Castiel replies silently, frowning at the thought. "I will have to learn how to carry myself on these wings. They are quite different now that they are visible. I can not travel as fast as before, and I have to walk outside before I can take off." He adds, flexing his wings slightly.  
  
Dean watches him and looks like he's about to apologize to him. It is clear he blames himself for everything, but he does not say a word. Instead, he downs the rest of his beer, and stares into nothingness, the muscles in his jaw tightening.  
  
"How do we break this curse of hers?" Sam finally asks, eager to get Castiel back to normal.  
  
"Kill her." Is the short reply.  
  
"Sounds like we have a lot of work ahead of us. I think it is time for everyone to sleep. Especially  _you_." Bobby looks sternly at Castiel.  
  
At that, they all get up. Bobby and Sam heads off to their own bedrooms, while Dean helps Castiel into the last bedroom. Cas is exhausted as he lays down. He's so gone, Dean has to help him pull up the covers. He's about to leave, heading for the couch, when a hand wraps around his wrist.  
  
Dean turns to look back down at the drowsy Angel. For a while they just stay like that.  
  
"Thank you..." Castiel whisperes. He looks tiredly up at Dean.  
  
"What? There's no need to thank me. This is what we do. And we certainly never leave anyone behind. Especially  _family_." Dean drags the last word out just the slightest and looks Castiel intensly into his eyes.  
  
Castiel's eyes widens a bit at Dean's words. Dean chuckles at the Angel's expression. "Now, go to sleep. You need your strength." He says gently and once again makes for the door.  
  
"Please..." Castiel then whispers, his hand tightening the tiniest bit on Dean's wrist. "please stay..." He adds more silently. Dean's gaze softens. He stands there for a bit more, before he sits down on the floor beside the bed, resting his hand on top of Castiel's.  
 


	3. The black feather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry for the late, late update! I was supposed to get this out monday last week, but things did not go as I'd planned.. for one thing, the basement flooded with 20 cm water... so, yeah.. the world didn't want me to get this last chapter out. hope you like this, and please leave comments! :)

Castiel walks cautiously through the front door. He has spent the last week inside, never taking a step out of the cabin. He was suffering from nightmares each night. Waking up screaming and sweating. Dean had quit attempting to sleep on the couch, and had settled either in the chair by the doorway, or beside the bed in Castiel's room, calming him every time he woke up. It resulted in Dean getting exhausted, and sleeping most of the day when Castiel was awake.

 

This day, Bobby decides Castiel is healed enough to go outside and attempt flying. Even in his near human state, he still heals somewhat faster than humans, though there isn't very much difference. He walks around to the back of the cabin where Bobby had told him there would be a big patch of moss and grass surrounded by tall trees. It would be a good place to start practising. If he should fall, the ground would be somewhat soft to be landing on. They would soon go back to Bobby's, and there would be only hard grounds to practise on.

 

Castiel had decided earlier that he would skip the shirt, and only practise in the sweatpants Dean lent him. That way, nothing would catch up in his feathers now that he has to learn to fly again. He positions himself in the middle of the clearing, looking up to the sky, wings still tucked securely behind his back. He sees an eagle soaring in a circle high above him, before it flies away. He sighs longingly but hesitates a moment longer.

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

Sam and Dean had dragged Bobby outside silently right after Castiel had made for the clearing, to look at how the flying would go. They watch him standing there, waiting for him to move. Dean wants to approach him when he doesn't move for a while, but Sam holds him back. Soon they can see him flexing his wings slightly, before stretching them out wide at both sides. The light shines through the thinner feathers, making them a dark purple in the otherwise black hawk-like wings. Dean lets a breath of astonishment escape his lips at the sight. Beside him Sam and Bobby stares in awe at the huge wings.

 

Castiel flaps his wings, first slowly, then a little faster, to test them. He crouches and lifts them toward the sky. As he jumps, he pushes his wings fast downwards, and he's far up above at the first flap of his wings.

 

"Woooha..." Dean lets out at the sight. All three of them walks closer into the centre of the clearing, watching the small shadow far up in the sky. "God damn he's fast.." He adds, looks at his brother and grins.

 

"Yeah.." Sam answered, a surprised expression on his face. Castiel had said he would be slower, so Sam had though he would be a lot slower than this. He can already see him coming back down, and turns his gaze to his brother.

 

Castiel lands fast in a crouch behind Dean, sending a gush of wind around himself. Dean turns to say something, but the only thing escaping his mouth is a shocked, fearful scream as the ground vanishes from under his feet.

 

Dean grabs onto Castiel with both arms and feet, holding on for dear life. "PUT ME DOWN!" he yells, as he tightens his grip. He thinks he hears Castiel chuckle over the loud frantic heartbeats in his ears.

 

"Dean," Castiel says softly, seeming to wait for Dean to react. He doesn't. "We have landed, Dean," Castiel continues while he starts to pry Deans arms loose from around his neck. At that the man opens his eyes slightly, and when he recognizes the surroundings, he quickly lets go of the Angel, staggering backwards in his haste to get away from him.

 

Sam, having been too shocked to react at first, now laughed hard, doubling over himself with tears in his eyes. Even Bobby is chuckling along.

 

Dean looks from the laughing guys to the Angel and back again, growing rapidly red-faced of embarrassment and anger. Pretty soon he stomps off toward the front of the cabin, leaving Castiel with a guilty expression on his face.

 

"Dean.." He begins, taking a step forward. When Dean keeps walking, without turning, Castiel ruffles his feathers and folds his wings tightly to his back, and follows him.

 

He finds him in the bedroom, opening a beer and taking a big mouthful. "I'm sorry Dean.. I needed to see if I could manage flying with one of you in my arms. You were the closest, and the most obvious choice when I landed. I thought perhaps you would not be scared, since I have flown with you before." He explains himself, looking down to his feet.

 

Dean swallowed another mouthful of beer before looking at the Angel in the doorway. "Yeah, well before it wasn't actual flying. Or.. I didn't see it like that. For me, it was teleporting. I fucking hate flying, remember? Be it airplanes or parachute or whatever airborne. That's the reason I drive everywhere!" he sits down on the bed, sipping irritably at the beer.

 

At loss of words, Castiel simply leaves the room silently. He regrets having caused Dean such fear after all the man had done for him lately. Soon he finds himself sitting on a log outside the cabin, not knowing what he should be doing. Should he leave them to fight this succubus on his own, not exposing the three men to the danger, or should he simply stay put.

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

"Cas?" Sam finds Castiel in between the trees at the far end of the clearing behind the cabin. He's sitting on a moss covered log, plucking absently at his wings. "What are you doing?" he adds when he sees the feathers on the forest floor. When the angel doesn't answer, he hurries over and waves a big hand in front of the man's eyes.

 

"Sam?" Castiel looks starteled up into the worried expression in Sam's face. "My apologies, I didn't realize you were here." He adds simply.  
  
"'Why are you plucking your wings?" Sam sits down on a rock right in front of Castiel, looking him up and down carefully.

The Angel seems confused for a moment, before he looks down into the grass and moss, covered in feathers. "I... do not know. I did not know I was doing so." He replies truthfully. "I suppose I am not yet used to having my wings visible."

 

"Don't tell me you're upset by Dean's reaction." Sam states and earns the Angel's attention. "Come on. Dean overreacted, because he was caught off guard. It's not like he's mad at you." Sam laughs a little. "Now come on, we're leaving now."

 

"I want to try flying back, to see how tiring it is for me to fly that distance." Castiel says as he stands up. "I will bring a phone in case I end up not able to fly all the way." He adds and makes for the clearing.

 

"Stay out of sight then!" Sam shouts after him at the moment the Angel crouches and jumps. Soon he's nothing but a tiny black spot in the sky.

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

 

Dean hits his head under the Impala when he hears a loud crash just outside the garage. He hurries out from under his car, and jogs outside just in time to hear a low voice mumbling "woops". In front of him is the wreckage of a small  car flat against the ground, a black-winged Angel standing on top of it. His wings are stretched out, like he just landed. "What did you do?" Dean sighs at him.

 

Castiel looks up guiltily, piercing Dean with his innocent brilliant blue eyes. "I lost it... It slipped from my grip while I was trying to fly with it." 

 

"You were flying around with a car? Why?" Dean asks amused at the sight of Castiel. He looks like a child about to be scolded.

 

"I need to test my strength. I need to be prepared for everything." The soldier surfaces in Castiel now. He has a serious look on his face that makes Dean go quiet. His amused smile turns to a frown.

 

"Don't overdo it," He says and walks back into the garage.

"Dean, how heavy is your car?" Dean hears Castiel ask, and spins around.

 

"You are NOT trying to fly with my baby!" He yells panic stricken at the thought, but there's no one there to hear him yell. "CAS!" He shouts then. No response. "Damn it!" he mutters as he goes back to tending to the black beauty.

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

The days that follows, Dean spends most of his time tinkering on cars after finishing the Impala. Sam is glued to the computer, trying to find traces of the Succubus. Bobby helps with the research and makes dinner, and Castiel uses every wake minute to test and train his wings.

 

Dean is watching Castiel fuss over an old rusty Impala that Dean had used parts from earlier. It is now basically just an empty rusty shell, and Castiel has filled it with stones and metal to get the similiar wight of Dean's own car. Castiel positions himself on top of the car's roof, gripping tightly onto the edges where the windows would have been, and stretches his wings high above his head. His powerful wings shoots to the ground and back up again. He flaps his wings hard a couple of times, but nothing happens. The stubborn Angel keeps flapping, going harder and harder until finally he manages to get the car a few inches from the ground.

 

At that moment, Sam comes out with a triumphant grin on his face. "Found her!" he beams. He sees Castiel in the air with the car, goes still, and watches shocked at the sheer strength of the Angel. The car slams back down to the gravel, with Castiel flat on it's roof, his wings spread lazily on the ground on each side. He's panting hard after the effort.

 

"You ok there?"  Dean asks, approaching him. He earns a nod from the tired Angel, before turning to his brother. "Where has she been?"

 

"She's been hiding in a illegal brothel, that got busted just a few hours ago. Sources are saying the people inside looked like they had been tortured for weeks before they died of the injuries," Sam eagerly tells him. "There's a survivor."

 

"Then what are we waiting for?" Castiel says, still laying on top of the car.

 

"For all of us to get a nap. It'll be dark soon, and we need to get our sleep. Especially you, since you apparently used all of your strength on training yourself. We'll go first thing in the morning." Dean vetoes, wandering off towards Bobby's house.  

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

 

Somehow they manages to lure Bobby into the back of the Impala. Castiel decides to fly instead of trying to cram himself into the small car. He's adjusting his speed according to the car's speed underneath him. Always careful not to be seen by other drivers. Always watching around himself to make sure no one follows them.

 

Except for a brief stop for food, they have been travelling for several hours straight. Their destination a motel just outside the city where the brothel had been busted. 

 

Ahead of them, Castiel can see they are approaching the ocean. The road lining up to the edge of steep cliffs, before turning downwards to a small stone beach. On the other side of the road is a hard uneven rock wall. The sun is setting, making a wonderful view from both the air and the ground.

 

A hot, burning pain hits his legs abruptly, making him fall a few feet in the air. He turns to see the succubus grinning triumphantly at him, a ball of flames in her hand. He grits his teeth, preparing to charge her, when the fireball comes at him fast. Unable to do anything to protect himself, he just manages to dodge it. He then charges at her, lashing out at her with his Angel blade which he had kept with him at all times.

 

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

 

Dean jumps at the explosion behind them, almost hitting the wall of stone on the side of the road. He looks in the rear-view mirror and sees the small fiery crater behind them. "Sam! Bobby! Can you see what's happening?!" he shouts, not slowing down the car in case they get hit by another explosion.

 

"It's her! She's fightin' the Angel!"  Bobby observes. "And here comes another fireball! Left!" he yells, grabbing hold of the seat as if it would help them dodge the attack.

 

"Shit!" Dean shouts and just manages to avoid the ball of fire as it crashes into the asphalt. Castiel on the other hand doesn't seem to notice how close the fireballs get to the impala, being fully occupied with dodging them himself as well as trying to get in a hit on the succubus.

 

Sam and Bobby are shouting directions for Dean as they rush along the road, trying not to get hit by the balls of fire. Some of them crashes onto the road fence, blowing big holes in it along the way, others fly over the car and crashes into the stonewall beside them or the road in front of them. Some explodes in clouds of steam in the ocean.

 

 Suddenly they are surprised by several fireballs. Some hits the fence ahead of them, others hits closely to the car, pushing them towards the fence. Dean tries to steer the car away from the attack, but ends up having to choose the stonewall, or the hole in the fence. Deciding that the wall would be a sure death for his brother, he picks the hole in the fence. As they flies through the hole, Dean realizes that they have driven off a steep cliff. "Hold on!" he shouts, even though that probably would not help them the slightest when they hit the water beneath.

Dean closes his eyes as he feels them falling downwards, he automatically grabs onto his brother's shirt in desperate need to protect. "Balls!" he can hear Bobby shout.

 

Thinking it takes too long for them to hit the water, Dean opens his eyes. He realizes they are not falling any more. In fact, they are going upwards. He looks out the side window, and sees the black wings of Castiel beating hard, and soon they are back on top of the cliff they had driven off.

 

 Dean stares in shock out the windshield as Castiel collapses and slides down to the hood of the car, one hand laying lifelessly on the window. He stares at Dean as he pants hard, otherwise not moving a muscle. One wing is rested over the roof of the car, the other on the ground in front of the impala.

 

It feels like several minutes goes by, but in reality it's just a few seconds before Castiel disappears from the hood of the car, only to be slammed on his back on the asphalt some feet further ahead. Dean clearly sees the pain the impact caused as Castiel gasps for air. However, the succubus soon sits on top of him, clutching her hands around his neck. Somehow Castiel has managed to keep his blade in his hands, and tries to hit her with it, but just lifting it seems to be difficult. The succubus' fingers and nails digs into Castiel's throat, right beneath his jaw. Slowly closing off his windpipe. The nails draws blood as they break the skin in her attempt at strangling the Angel.  Soon, his arm falls to the ground, the sword rolling from his palm.

 

Bobby and Sam jumps out of the car, aiming guns at the creature. Dean snaps out of his shock, grabs the vile of Castiel's blood from his pocket and hurries out of the car.

 

Sam shoots at the succubus. She dodges the bullet, lets go of the Angel's neck and shoots a fireball at Sam. As Castiel gasps and pants and coughs, Sam and Bobby ducks from the fireball and keeps shooting to get the creature off him.

 

Dean smears his hands with blood from the vile before he rushes towards the Angel blade. He manages to grab hold of it and smear the blood from his hands over to the edge of the blade.  
  
Seeing  Dean's actions, the succubus takes flight, dodging the persistent shower of bullets from Sam and Bobby. Dean kneels by Castiel, checking on him. Only now does he see the burnt off jeans and the burns on Castiel's legs, as well as the cuts to his chest. The Angel pants hard, trying to get his breathing under control. Dean clearly sees the bruises already forming around his friend's neck, as well as the puncture wounds from the creature's nails.

 

"Cas..." Dean breaths. Castiel looks up at him, breathing steadier. Dean assists him to sit up.

 

"DEAN!" Sam shouts suddenly. Dean realizes the shooting has stopped, and can see in Castiel's eyes the fire coming fast towards them. Castiel is the first to react, and pushes Dean to the ground, wings covering them both. He cries out in pain when the fire burns the back of his right wing as he uses it to throw the ball of fire away from them. It doesn't stop him from charging at the succubus as soon as he's sure Dean's ok.

 

Sam and Bobby takes cover behind the car to reload their weapons. Dean runs over to join them, grabbing the gun from the glove department, still holding onto the Angel's blade. This time it looks like Castiel has the upper hand in the airborne close combat. The creature keeps trying to slice him open with her claws, but the Angel defends himself nicely.

 

Soon they hear a sickening snap as Castiel breaks the woman's hand, this only manages to make her furious. She puts some distance between them, and for a moment it looks like she wants to escape as she flies out over the water, but when Castiel follows her determined to end this once and for all, she turns abruptly. She catches him off-guard, and gets hold of one of his wings, making them both spin in the air. She wraps herself around it, and a sickening snap echoes as she breaks the bone, making the Angel scream in pain.

 

The three men stares in horror as the woman gets hold of the other wing, before Castiel is able to react, and snaps the bone in half. Unable to fly, the only thing keeping him from falling, is the claws digging into his skin. Being a creature older than the Angels, her hand has already been healed, and she wraps them around his throat once again.

 

Dean finally sees an opportunity to shoot without hitting Cas. He hits her straight in the head with the first bullet, but he doesn't stop there. Knowing she is practically immune to the bullets, he keeps showering her with bullets in an attempt to make her release Castiel. Sam and Bobby joins in on the firing, and soon they have made enough holes in her leathery wings to make her release the Angel with a scream of anger.

 

The Angel falls. Dean's sight is obscured by the edge of the cliff, but he hears the splash as the guy hits the water beneath. "CAS!" He hears himself shout, letting go of his weapons. Ignoring the furious creature charging towards them, he runs for the edge.

 

Sam sees Dean let go of the Angel's blade and run. He jumps forward, grabbing the blade just in time to stab the creature when she flies at him.  She stares in disbelief down into her stomach, the blade embedded deep into her. Sam slowly drags it back out, and she collapses to the ground.

On his way towards the edge, Dean had stripped off his shirt and shoes. He stops at the edge to look for his friend. He sighs in relief when he sees the huge black wings  at the surface, but it does not take long before the relief is exchanged for panic. Castiel is sinking. He's not moving. Dean backs off, before sprinting and plunging into the water, hearing his brother shout his name just as he starts the descent.

 

Sam runs to the edge staring down after his brother. At first, he can't see him, but then he breaks through the surface gasping for air. He looks frantically around himself. Seeing nothing, he dives back down.

 

The water stings Dean's eyes as he looks around, trying to make out Castiel's figure in the rapidly darkening, ice cold water. He finds him underneath himself, deeper than he'd thought. Hurriedly he swims down, grabbing onto the tip of a wing. Finding he's almost out of air, he starts dragging himself closer to get a better grip. Even in the water, Castiel is quite heavy due to his huge wings, and Dean struggles on his way back to the surface. Breaching the surface, he breathes in hard and immediately adjusts his grip on Castiel to keep the man's face above the water.

 

Sam feels a rush of relief when his brother resurfaces with Castiel. Bobby comes up beside him, to see how things are going in the water. "Dean! Swim to the beach!" Sam shouts down and waves an arm in the direction of the stone beach. Dean looks up at him, then in the direction he's pointing, and starts swimming immediately.  The two men stand there watching for a few moments, before they gather up their stuff and jumps into the Impala to drive down to the beach.

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

 

 

Dean is exhausted when he finally feels stone under his feet, but it doesn't stop him from  carrying the unconscious Angel a few feet up the beach on unsteady feet. He lays him down carefully, kneeling beside the man.  He looks terrible. His eyes are closed, his skin pale white, lips a bluish tint. Splinters of bone are visible through the flesh of his wings. He's covered in burns and cuts and bruises. And he's not breathing. Dean's barely aware of Sam kneeling on the other side of the Angel.

 

"Wasn't he supposed to heal after she died..?" Sam asks in a whisper. He's clutching the Angel's blade in his hand. He swallows hard as he looks down onto Castiel's face. He doesn't really have to touch the man's throat to search for the nonexistent pulse.

 

Sam is suddenly aware of his brother yanking the  sword out of his hand and jumping to his feet. Then he sees the Succubus. He was so sure he'd killed her! She is laughing maniacally. Dean on the other hand is cold as ice, and before anyone can react, he stabs her in the chest, staring deadly at her. "Told you I would pierce your lungs, bitch!" he hisses. The ancient creature is grinning at him like she'd wanted for him to finish her off. Disbelief starts to form in Dean's face, but the creature coughs up blood, breath turning to wheezing before she bursts into black flames, making him lose all interest in her.

 

Dean collapses to his knees beside Castiel again, this time placing his hands on his chest. He starts pounding hard on the man's chest, growling for him to wake the fuck up. Sam watches his brother sadly, not wanting to tell him it's too late. He can see that Bobby stopped halfway between the boys and the car, watching them with sad eyes.

 

Dean puts one hand under Castiel's chin, the other on his nose, tilting his head back and opening his mouth. He leans down and covers Castiel's mouth with his own and blows. He blows air into the man's lungs once before he goes back to compressing his chest.  He repeats this pattern many times.

 

 

 

Sam cannot take it anymore. It is too painful to watch his brother trying to bring his Angel back. "Dean.." His voice cracked. "Dean.. He's-" something catches his eyes. He looks down to the Angel's wings.

 

The feathers have loosened and are being plucked away by the wind. Many of them even look like they have withered. He didn't know feathers could wither... Soon, every little feather is gone from the wings. Sam grabs one of the big primary feathers before they all rolls wave like in the wind down the beach. He stares in terror down at the muscle and bone that once formed huge, beautiful, black wings. Now they just look terrible. The splintered bone is now sickingly more visible, making the wings bend in the wrong ways.

 

He's barley aware that his brother is still doing CPR to the lifeless body, as he watches the skin on the wings shrink in on itself. He recognizes the mummifying process fairly soon as the flesh dries up under his gaze. What the hell. It is happening way too fast, and soon there's nothing but dust left. Some of it slides down between the stones, while the rest of it catches in the wind. He stares up at his brother to see if he's seen it, but Dean is still focused on pounding the man's chest.

 

Sam looks down on Castiel's face. It is still unearthly pale. This time, Sam decides to look for the pulse he knows he won't find. It is just to make things final, to get his brother to stop. He puts two fingers to the man's throat just under his chin, while Dean is still pounding the chest. Nothing. He's about to remove his fingers when something twitches. He adjusts them back properly, feeling for that little twitch he'd just felt.

 

For a moment he thinks it was all his imagination, but there it is again. To make absolutely sure it's not just his imagination, Sam waits for one more. And there it is. Hope wells up in him, and he looks at his brother.

 

"Dean.." Sam tries to get his attention, but the man just keeps on compressing the Angel's chest. "Dean!" he snaps. This time, Dean freezes and looks up with red eyes into his brother's gaze. "He's got a pulse!" relief floods his voice. Dean just stares for a moment, before leaning down to feel for the Angel's breath. Sam clearly sees it when Dean can feel the weak puff of air escaping the man's mouth. Suddenly his brother looks too tired, he's pale, and he has that purplish tint on his lips telling Sam he's really fucking cold. He sinks down beside Castiel, starts to shiver violently and does that thing where he takes controlled breaths to try calm himself.

 

Suddenly Castiel is coughing wildly, and Sam turns him over to the side just in time as the man retches water up from his lungs. He goes limp again right after the retching stops. Sam checks him over and finds that he's still unconscious.

 

"We need to get you all to the motel." Bobby is suddenly by their side, kneeling by Dean. He helps Dean to his feet and motions for Sam to help him get Castiel up to the car.

 

Dean staggers to the back of the car, opening the trunk and roaming around inside. When Sam and Bobby gets up to the car, Dean comes around to the side with a huge woolen blanket in his hands. He opens the door to the back and spreads the blanket over the bench seat, taking care to place plenty of it over the back of the seat. "strip him" he says when he turns back to the other men.

 

Sam and Bobby shares a very confused look. Dean ignores them and strips off his own clothes. Even his underwear. "hurry" he says as he puts on a dry pair of boxers he had put on top of the blanket covered seat.

 

When Sam and Bobby still doesn't do anything, Dean sighs. "Fine. I'll do it. Hold him up." He rips the Angel's T-shirt off, and goes down to unbutton his jeans. Bobby and Sam holds the unconscious Angel awkwardly, looking away when Dean drags off his jeans.

 

Dean can't help but smirk a little for himself when he discovers that Castiel had skipped his underwear. He grabs for the other boxer he'd got out of his duffel and puts it on the man. He then crawls onto the back seat of his baby and half sits, half lays against the other door. "Now get him over here" he orders the two men. When they just look dumbly at him, he sighs once again. "Seriously. Guys. May I never almost drown or almost freeze to death with only the two of you around. Hypothermia. Body heat. It's the best way to heat someone back up. I really thought you knew that. It is the basics of everything, you know."

 

The two men would face palm themselves were it not for the fact that they are holding up a limp man. Of course they know.

 

Dean helps them position Castiel on top of himself, and dragging the reminder of the blanket down over them both. Sam helps by tucking the blanket properly around their feet before he makes for the driver's side.

 

As the Impala roar to life, Dean wraps his arms around Castiel making sure he doesn't roll off him.  He also makes sure Cas's airways are open. If it were up to him, he'd have no problem with doing this all naked, but he'd decided to spare his brother and Bobby the mental images. He chuckles silently for himself at the thought. After a couple of minutes, he can feel the warmth beginning to spread between them.

 

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

 

 

"Dean..." Sam is shaking his foot a little. Dean wakes up disoriented, not really aware that he'd fallen asleep at all. "We're at the motel. I got us two rooms... They only had one double left though... But there's a king size in the other though. Figured you still needed the body heat thing.." Sam rambles on. Dean doesn't really hear half of it. He sits up, removes the blanket and opens the door to get out. He then drags Cas and the blanket out, covers them both with it and motions for Bobby to help him.

 

He feels like he's sleepwalking. Inside the room he collapses onto the bed, too exhausted to even think. Sam and Bobby places Castiel on the bed with him.

 

"We'll be in the other room. Call if you need anything." Sam says and Dean just waves him off, half asleep already. When they leave the room, Dean crawls a bit closer to Castiel, wrapping an arm around him. Soon he's dead to the world.

 

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

 

 

Dean feels warm when he drifts back to consciousness. Too warm almost. When he opens his eyes slowly, he startles and almost rolls backwards out of the bed. He's looking straight into the intense blue eyes of Castiel, a bit too close. "Hello, Dean" he almost smiles back at Dean.

 

"Holy shit, Cas. You scared the shit outta me!" Dean bursts out. Castiel is about to say something, but Dean interrupts him. "I thought I'd lose you for real this time!" it comes out almost a whisper.

 

Castiel tilts his head a little, then he looks down. "My apologies. I did not mean to worry you."

 

"Just... Never do that again." Dean orders.

 

They were silent for a few moments, before Cas lifted his covers, looked at his body, then back at Dean. "You stripped me." He states with his trademark serious face.

 

Dean goes instantly red. "Uh... yeah.. You were hypothermic.. needed to.. body heat.." he mutters, glancing away from the blue laser-like eyes.

 

Another few moments of silence. "Dean," Castiel hesitates for a bit before continuing uncharacteristically quiet. "I have this... Good... Taste in my mouth." He stops, looking into Dean's eyes. "I wonder..." He furrows his brows and looks quizzically at Dean. Then, he starts closing in. Dean's eyes widen, but he stays still. Their lips brush against each other, and Dean closes his eyes, feeling the softness of Cas' lips against his own. The last time they touched his lips, they were cold, now they are warm. He sighs at the thought. Relieved that Cas is still with him.

 

Castiel licks Dean's upper lip slowly. Feeling the warm, wet tongue on his lip, Dean almost whimpers and open his mouth to let him in. Cas carefully explores Dean's mouth with his tongue, before going down to bite-suck his lower lip. He draws away, only to sit up slightly, leaning in over to Dean's ear, his stubble brushing against Dean's cheeks in the process. "Yes... That is the taste I was looking for..." He whispers into the man's ears. Goosebumps run down Dean's whole body. Whether it is the whisper, or the stubble making him shiver, he doesn't know.

 

Suddenly Castiel stretches his arm in the direction of the door. He flips his wrist, and Dean can hear the door lock. Another slower flip, makes the dresser slide firmly in front of the door. He points at the radio standing on the nightstand, making a circling motion with his finger, making music come out through the speakers. He doesn't bother switching stations, only makes it play a bit louder, before he returns his attention to Dean.

 

Castiel is now looking down into Dean's eyes under him. Dean swallows hard as he stares back up into the blue ocean. All bruises and cuts Dean had been seeing on the lifeless body he had done his best to bring back to life, are gone. There are no signs of them ever existing. His gaze wanders down to the pink lips that had been blue only hours earlier. He can't help himself from licking his own lips. Castiel closes in, and Dean meet him with his lips already parted. It starts out as a slow tangle of tongues. Castiel slides one leg over Dean to make himself more comfortable as the kiss deepens, growing hungry for something more.

 

Unable to control himself, Dean rolls his hips against the pressure of Castiel on top of him. Breaking the kiss, he gasps for air at the surprise of feeling Castiel's erection pressing down on him. It only makes his own harden further. Moving on from Dean's lips, Castiel places loving kisses down the man's throat, before going back up to carefully bite at his earlobes, dragging them slowly with him before letting go, to resume the kisses on his collarbone. He keeps moving down Dean's chest until he arrives at on of his nipples. He licks it, leaving a wet trail over it, before he blows at it. The goosebumps runs all over Dean's body once more and he shivers at the sensation.

 

Castiel sees the man clutch at the sheets as he takes the nipple into his mouth and starts sucking gently. He can hear Dean gasp when he moves over to the other nipple, giving it the very same treatment as the other.

 

Dean lifts his head to look down at the man moving on from his nipples to go further down his torso. It is plain torture as the other man keeps making sure he's always sliding against his hard member. When Castiel stops at Dean's crotch he looks annoyed down at the clothed bulk. For a moment it looks like he wants to stare the boxer away.

 

Dean stops mid-chuckle when Castiel puts a finger on the waistband over his left leg and drags it all the way to the bottom of the boxer. The fabric rips apart as he goes, as if he were cutting it with a knife rather than his finger. He repeats it on the other leg, then rips the fabric away from Dean. A smirk forms in Cas' face when he looks up into Dean's face and sees the open mouthed shock displayed there.

 

Castiel runs his fingers down Dean's inner thighs, his grin widening when he sees his cock twitching pleasantly at his touch. His fingers wanders over and cups his balls. At that Dean's head collapses into the pillows groaning and staring at the ceiling. His toes curls with pleasure. Suddenly he can feel the strong fingers gripping his shaft, and before he has the time to lift his head to look, he can feel hot wetness around it's head. He moans heartedly.

 

He's faintly aware of the music playing on the radio. Not his kind of music at all. He moans yet again as he feels Castiel licking and swirling his tongue around his shaft. He feels the world blurring at the pleasure as Cas sucks him down deep. He can feel the man's hands gliding over his lower body, and suddenly his own hands have ventured down to grab fistfuls of dark hair. He tries to fuck himself in Cas's mouth, but Castiel holds him down firmly.

 

Dean whimpers in disappointment when Cas lets go with a pop. He looks at the Angel now kneeling between his legs, licking his lips at the sight of Dean naked in front of him. "Get those off." Dean orders, staring pointedly at the boxers.

 

Castiel obediently puts a thumb under the waistband, dragging it out from his body teasingly, before he rips them off himself. Elegantly, like a feline, he crawls back up to join his mouth with Dean's in a deep, long kiss.

 

Dean sneaks his hand up between the two of them, gripping them both in his hand and starts jerking off them both. Castiel breaks the kiss with a breathy moan, making Dean moan in return.

Castiel briefly registers the man on the radio saying the name of the next song they will be playing. "Be mine" he thinks it fits oddly with his thoughts at this precise moment, and as the song plays, he thinks the tunes fits to their act of lovemaking. He briefly hears the lyrics before the pleasure tunes out every sound, except for the ones Dean makes.

 

They both breathe heavily as Dean works them both. Castiel Decides to join in, sneaking a hand in to cover Dean's, following his rhythm. He stops them both at one moment, to smear his thumb in the pre-come on the head of Dean's dick, rubbing in circles. "C-Cas..!" Dean gasps. He doesn't manage to say anything more before his body tenses, and he comes with a muffled cry as his arm shoots up to cover his mouth.

 

Castiel keeps working them both through the last of Dean's load, and tumbles over the edge soon after Dean, with a silent scream. He collapses down on top of Dean, they both breathing hard. "wha.. what was that..." Dean whispers.

 

"That was a thank you for all you have done, and an apology for the trouble I made for the last month." Castiel replies seriously. "It is also because I wanted to." He adds and grins at Dean, before kissing him lazily. Dean hums in approval.

 

Castiel pulls the covers back over them, and lays down on Dean's chest, arm slung over his waist. He listens to Dean's breathing and smiles when the man dozes off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~oOo~

 

 

 

 

Dean wakes with a start as he realizes that the door to their room is being opened. He panics, remembering what had been going on just a little earlier. When Sam enters the room, Dean is sitting in the middle of the bed with his hair ruffled to all edges, the covers tangles at his feet, blinking confusedly down at his boxers. Sam chuckles at the sight. "Good morning sunshine!" he then says, looking around the room. "Where's Cas?" he adds worriedly, making Dean look around even more confused.

 

"I'm here." Castiel says as he comes out from the open bathroom door. To Dean's amusement, he's wearing the same jeans he had been wearing under the attack, and an old Metallica T-shirt from Dean's duffle.

 

"Good to see you awake!" Sam grins and notices that the bruises are gone. "You back to being the Angel we know?" he adds.

 

"Mostly. My wings will need resting after all they have been through. Other than that I am back to normal."

 

Castiel goes back to sit on the bed, while Sam sits down in a chair opposite them. Bobby enters soon after, and decides to sit down in the other chair beside Sam.

 

"So... How come the Succubus didn't die when I stabbed her, but willingly came after us so Dean could stab her again?" Sam asks Castiel.

 

"Angel blood is like poison to them. If you do not give them the vital blow the first time, they are doomed to die slowly and painfully. That is probably why she willingly came back to be stabbed again." Castiel answers, looking over at Dean.

 

"If I knew, I would have let her die slowly... That shit didn't deserve the mercy." Dean grumbles. They all look at him then. "What? She didn't. after all the shit she made us, made Cas go through, the only thing the deserved was a slow painful death!" he hisses.

 

"I'm guessing we won't be talking to the witness after the attack on the brothel then." Sam  states and stands up. Bobby nods and stands with him.

 

"We'll go back to my place first thing in the mornin'" Bobby decides, and the two men walks out of the room.

 

Dean looks strangely at the chair where Sam had been sitting. A big black feather as resting lightly on the seat. Deciding not to think about why it's there, he turns to Castiel with a grin on his face. "Ready for round two?" he wriggles his brows. Castiel chuckles and leans over to kiss him slowly.

 

"Why, yes, Dean. I truly am." 


End file.
